Northern Manitoba riding draws nearly 50% more voters than in previous election

Northern Manitoba's lone federal riding saw the largest increase in voter turnout on election day.

Nearly 64 per cent of voters in Churchill–Keewatinook Aski exercised their democratic right Monday, a 48 per cent increase over the last general election. In 2011, the participation rate using the current boundaries was only 43 per cent in the riding held onto by NDP incumbent Niki Ashton.

Riding boundaries were redrawn in 2013, meaning comparisons between the 2011 and 2015 federal elections are not perfectly accurate, however using transposed figures provided by Elections Canada, it's possible to compare the two election years. Boundaries for both Winnipeg Centre and Charleswood–St. James–Assiniboia–Headingley were not changed.

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The overall voter participation rate for Manitoba was 68.8 per cent, less than half a percentage point above the national average of 68.5 percent. Of the 873,492 registered voters in the province, 601,024 made their way to their local polling stations.

Winnipeg Centre mobilized more voters

One of the most anticipated races in Manitoba, which pitted NDP incumbent Pat Martin against Liberal candidate Robert-Falcon Ouellette in Winnipeg Centre, also drew unusually strong numbers.

Historically, the riding has generally posted below-average voter turnouts — in 2011 only 48 per cent of voters cast a ballot — but this time around, voter turnout reached 61 per cent, a 26 per cent increase in voters.

Highest turnout in Winnipeg South Centre

In the battle for Winnipeg South Centre, won handily by Liberal Jim Carr over his Conservative opponent incumbent Joyce Bateman, 76.8 per cent of registered voters cast a ballot.

The lowest participation rate in Manitoba was in Winnipeg North with a 59 per cent voter turnout, enough to solidify a victory for Liberal incumbent Kevin Lamoureux.

The preliminary voter turnout figures provided by Elections Canada do not include voters who registered on election day and do not include rejected ballots.